Tom-Jelte Slagter, the young Dutchman, has won stage three of the Tour Down
Under after the Blanco rider outsprinted Matt Goss and Philippe Gilbert to
the line at the end of the 139-kilometre ride from Unley to Stirling.

One to watch: Tom-Jelte Slagter of the Blanco team celebrates after the Dutchman beat Philippe Gilbert and Matt Goss (right) in a sprint finish to win stage three of the Tour Down Under while Team Sky's retained the leader's ochre jerseyPhoto: EPA

Slagter moved to within five seconds of Geraint Thomas, Team Sky's overall leader, following the biggest win of the 23 year-old's career.

Thomas, meanwhile, finsished in fourth, just missing out on gaining bonus seconds for taking a spot in the top three.

"It's really amazing that I can beat them," Slagter said of finishing ahead of Goss, Gilbert and Thomas. "The only thing I knew was that I was [feeling] good and tried to get the best result.

"David Tanner my team-mate pulled the sprint the perfect way and I just had to go."

The thrilling end to the race was a fitting climax to a fascinating day, which started in Unley in inner-city Adelaide and finished 139km later in the picturesque town of Stirling, nestled in the Adelaide Hills.

On the hottest day of the tour so far, with temperatures reaching as high as 38 degrees Celsius, Australian duo Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) and Will Clarke (Argos-Shimano) made the first attacking move when they broke clear after 10km and steadily rode away from the peloton.

The pair were riding well together and took a lead of almost three and half minutes during the stage, which included six 21.4km laps in the countryside around Stirling.

But at the 90km mark, the peloton began a series of attacks to close the gap.

A leading group of eight then opened a 30-second gap though the peloton, controlled largely by Thomas's Sky Pro Cycling team, maintained contact and with five kilometres left the race was together again.

Portuguese rider Tiago Machado then tried his luck and went 300 metres clear, but couldn't sustain the pace and was brought back with 1.5km to go, setting up a sprint finish.

Tanner brought Slagter forward and when the Dutchman decided to go for home, none of the others were able to go with him.

Thomas said his teammates had done everything asked of them.

"The boys were strong and we were always in control, but we definitely got tested today," he said.

"It was down to me to try and get on the podium and get some bonus seconds - it didn't quite happen but we've still got the [ochre leader's] jersey and that's the main thing."

The Welshman was confident of retaining the lead in Friday's 126.5km fourth stage from Modbury to Tanunda in the Barossa Valley, and said the race would probably come down to Saturday's penultimate stage, which includes two climbs up the infamous Old Willunga Hill.

"Tomorrow should be a bunch sprint I would have thought, so it will all come down to Willunga and the big test up there," Thomas said.